Unusual spin correlations in a nanomagnet
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716 (United States)
We show how atomic-scale exchange phenomena can be controlled and exploited in nanoscale itinerant magnets to substantially improve magnetic properties. Cluster-deposition experiments, first-principle simulations, and analytical calculations are used to demonstrate the effect in Co{sub 2}Si nanoclusters, which have average sizes varying from about 0.6 to 29.5 nm. The cluster-deposited nanoparticles exhibit average magnetic moments of up to 0.70 μ{sub B}/Co at 10 K and 0.49 μ{sub B}/Co at 300 K with appreciable magnetocrystalline anisotropies, in sharp contrast to the nearly vanishing bulk magnetization. The underlying spin correlations and associated cluster-size dependence of the magnetization are explained by a surface induced ferromagnetic spin polarization with a decay length of the order of 1 nm, much larger than the nearest-neighbor interatomic distance in the alloy.
- OSTI ID:
- 22412576
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 24; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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